So far, between the two Bidens, the one who keeps talking eagerly about re-election is Jill Biden, not Joe Biden. This should tell us something.

While Joe has cautiously stepped around announcing a re-election bid, Jill has not been shy about talking about it at all. Yes, it matters more when Grandpa Joe says it, because then it becomes official. Jill Biden, on the other hand, can run her mouth off and nothing becomes official. But it is interesting that she is continually assuring everyone that Old Joe is going to run, and that he’s totally ready for it.

Jill Biden was interviewed by CNN sometime near the end of February, and it was supposed to air last Thursday. So CNN began to drop some clips to promote their interview – which then got pre-empted because of the verdict in the Murdaugh murder trial. CNN didn’t begin to promote the clips again until Sunday, in preparation for the Monday night release of the full interview. And in that interview, CNN’s Arlette Saenz asks Jill Biden about Nikki Haley’s proposed competency testing for any politician over the age of 75. While Jill didn’t take the Don Lemon approach, she was highly indignant that Joe’s compentency would ever be in question.

"It's ridiculous."

First lady Jill Biden dismisses Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's calls for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 https://t.co/nrIHMlR3UM pic.twitter.com/C1bbTIEP4i

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 3, 2023

“Ridiculous,” the first lady said, responding to Haley’s proposal during an interview with CNN, which will air as part of “CNN Primetime: Jill Biden Abroad” at 9 p.m. ET on Monday.”

Asked if her husband, who would be 82 at his inauguration if he’s reelected, would consider taking such a test, Jill Biden said, “We would never even discuss something like that.”

As the Bidens prepare for a possible 2024 presidential campaign, the first lady pushed back on concerns about her husband’s age, citing his recent travel schedule as reflective of his stamina.”

“How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train? Go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky?” she said. “So, look at the man. Look what he’s doing. Look what he continues to do each and every day.”

During an extensive sit-down with CNN, Jill Biden said she is “all for” her husband running for reelection in 2024. But the first lady also left an opening for her husband should he decide against a run.”

“It’s Joe’s decision,” she said. “And we support whatever he wants to do. If he’s in, we’re there. If he wants to do something else, we’re there too.”

Yeah, something tells me that if Joe told Jill that he just wants to retire to Rehoboth Beach, eat ice cream, and peek in the windows of families with young children, she would not be supporting that. Again, Joe is past his 80th birthday. What would be the “something else” that he would want to do, Jill? Finally become a truck driver, or a professor, or live his true authentic self as a Puerto Rican-Greek-Jewish–Polish guy attending shul on Saturdays and the black church on Sundays after going to mass?

The real problem for Jill Biden is that she’s used the “ridiculous” deflection before – as in, the last time that Joe ran for president in 2020.

Joe Biden has now served a full two years in office, and the questions about his competency that existed then have not gone away. At all. In fact, they have been magnified. And Jill Biden is clearly the one pushing Joe to run again.

BIDEN: "It's my intention to run again."

MSNBC: "Dr. Biden is for it?"

BIDEN: *aneurysm*

MSNBC: "Mr. President?"

BIDEN: "Dr. Biden thinks that uh my wife thinks that uh that I uh that that we're that we're doing something very important."
pic.twitter.com/YQv2r1bZvV

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 22, 2022

And the Democrats know that they are stuck with Joe Biden, because waiting right behind him is Kamala Harris, who they do NOT want. In fact, one of the funniest parts of the above video of Jill Biden from two years ago is her lauding of Kamala Harris as Joe’s running mate, when we all now know just how much Jill disliked Kamala from the start. (Kamala’s husband, on the other hand, Jill likes. *cough*)

And as for other alternatives, Pete Buttigieg is now watching his dreams of being president go up in smoke like a controlled chemical explosion off a derailed train. Marianne Williamson is running again, which is sure to be entertaining. But everyone else is staying well out of the way, unless Joe steps aside. And Jill is making damned sure he is going to stay in.

The really sad part of Jill Biden’s soundbite is when she admits that “we would never even discuss something like that” when it comes to considering having Joe take a competency test. Why? If she’s convinced he’s fine, then why not? Is she afraid of what it might say, and what that would mean? I understand – it is no picnic to tell an elderly family member that they can no longer drive, or that they need to downsize, that they can’t use the stairs anymore, or that they need more care and attention. But for crying out loud, Joe Biden is PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and his own WIFE won’t even talk to him about his competency or aging? The man trips going UP stairs. At what point will Jill and the family have that talk with Joe, and will it be before or after he orders a random drone strike on innocent people? Just because Joe Biden went on a long trip to Ukraine, on a private plane like Air Force One, and then rode a train afterward, does not mean he has the mental or physical stamina of a young man. Joe Biden does not act young. He looks and acts old. And he is only going to continue to get older.

Jill Biden can cry “ridiculous” all she wants, as she has for the last few years, but the fact that the question keeps coming up means that it isn’t ridiculous at all. And the longer that this goes on, the more obvious it is that it’s Jill that really wants Joe to be president, and he’s just doing what he’s told.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click